


The Names We Leave Behind

by Moodymadi101



Category: All For the Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Blood, Knives, Name Change, Neil's mother's death, Prequel to All For the Game Series, Trigger Warnings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-13
Updated: 2016-05-13
Packaged: 2018-06-08 04:12:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6838570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moodymadi101/pseuds/Moodymadi101
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A prequel to the All For the Game Series by Nora Sakavic. Neils mother's death.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Names We Leave Behind

**Author's Note:**

> WARNING  
> Triggers are:  
> \- Knives  
> \- Beating  
> \- Blood  
> There are graphic depictions violence.

Alex could still smell the smoke. Distance did nothing to dull the sharp knife of memory, he could not escape the all-consuming fire, the sickening smell of charred flesh burnt to the bone. He could not escape the eternal fear that hung over his life like a suffocating blanket. Alex would always be hunted, the Butcher of Baltimore, his father, never gave up. 

He’d caught up to them in Seattle. Alex flinched as he recalled the sound of the knife as it had punctured his mother’s side, the sickening squelch that the blade had made as it was withdrawn. Blood. Blood. Blood. Blood soaked her once dull green shirt, her already blue-bruised ribs, the waist of her denim jeans. He’d tried to get to her, fighting with everything he had against the iron hands clamped around his wrists and forearms. Fought so hard that he’d almost got free, almost escaped their bruising grips before crumpling to the ground as he was struck from behind by a hateful fist. His last memory of that dusty warehouse was his mother’s biting voice, promising a swift and bloody end to their attackers. And then soft and peaceful the darkness had swept in. They could not touch him here.

Alex didn’t have the slightest idea of how they had gotten out of that warehouse alive, what his mother had done to save him. Alex knew, deep down, that his mother had known she wouldn’t be walking away this time. That she wouldn’t survive the week. In the end she had been right. She had always been right. It was not the deep vicious wound in her side that killed her in the end, but the internal bleeding from the brutal beating she had received beforehand. Alex hadn’t realised, hadn’t known until she’d made him repeat every promise he’d ever made to her. Don’t look back, don’t slow down, and don’t trust anyone. Be anyone but himself, and never be anyone for too long. Alex hadn’t realised, hadn’t known, hadn’t realised, hadn’t kn-

A loud noise shocked Alex out of his gruesome memories. A car had pulled over, the hood spotted with rust. The driver was asking him something. The irritation in his voice suggested this was not the first time he’d asked.  
Alex looked at him.  
“I said do you wanna ride?”  
Alex nodded and got in the car.  
The motor roared back to life as the older man asked, “Where you headin’?”  
“Arizona” was Alex’s only answer. He wasn’t giving any specifics. Not after what happened. Don’t trust anyone, whispered his mother’s voice in his ear.  
Silence settled over them, the only sound the rumble and growl of the engine.  
“What’s your name kid?”  
Alex hesitated. What was his name?  
“Neil. Neil Josten” and with those words he let Alex go and became Neil.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry this one is really short and not very good. I may be adding more to it, be patient. This is my first fanfiction.  
> (If you're wondering why this is so short and uses lots of imagery and techniques as possible, it was for school)
> 
> I imagine that Neil would've changed his name from when his mother died to something else, hence me using a different name throughout the piece. I also know that this doesn't strictly stick to the canon stuff but, I may develop it more later on to accommodate.
> 
> Please leave comments! I love to hear what people think of my work. Teachers aren't as honest.


End file.
